Turkey's Army Could Be Used Against Protesters, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc Says

06/17/2013 08:10 am ET
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Updated
Aug 17, 2013

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ANKARA, June 17 (Reuters) - Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Monday Turkey could deploy "elements of the armed forces" to help quell anti-government protests if needed, after more than two weeks of violent demonstrations in several cities.

"Our police, our security forces are doing their jobs. If it's not enough then the gendarmes will do their jobs. If that's not enough ... we could even use elements of the Turkish Armed Forces," Arinc told Turkey's state-run TRT television. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley)

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A man falls as riot police use tear gas and pressurized water to quash a peaceful demonstration by hundreds of people staging a sit-in protest to try and prevent the demolition of trees at an Istanbul park, Turkey, Friday, May 31, 2013. A number of protesters were injured. Police moved in at dawn Friday to disperse the crowd on the fourth day of the protest against a contentious government plan to revamp Istanbuls main square, Taksim. The protesters are demanding that the squares park, Gezi, is protected. (AP Photo)